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https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-144
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-144
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
24 Mar 2026
| 24 Mar 2026
Status: this preprint is currently under review for the journal ESSD.
A Pan-Arctic Pigment Database for Phytoplankton and Sea-Ice Algae
Abstract. Climate change has dramatically altered the Arctic seas with significant decrease in sea ice extent and thickness and warming water temperature. The ecological impacts of such change have been described for many parts of the Arctic Ocean, but long-term records of biological indicators are still missing. Among those, photosynthetic and accessory pigments are one of the key tools that aid quantification of phytoplankton and sea-ice algae biomass and characterisation of community composition. To address this gap, we present the first pan-Arctic compilation of in situ algal pigment data obtained exclusively by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), containing 10.798 samples collected across 77 Arctic research cruises between 2000 and 2024. As a result of large-scale collaborative effort, this database covers both open water and sea-ice environments across coastal, shelf and open domains. The database (10.11583/DTU.29445104) includes measures of up to 26 pigments, with 8 major marker/accessory pigments being considered in this study, namely Alloxanthin (Allo), 19’-Butanoyloxyfucoxanthin (Butfuco), Chlorophyll a (Chl-a), Chlorophyll b (Chl-b), Fucoxanthin (Fuco), 19’-Hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin (Hexfuco), Peridinin (Peri), and Zeaxanthin (Zea). This publicly available database provides crucial data that can be used to assess phytoplankton dynamics, validating remote sensing observations and can serve as a resource for future Arctic ecological- and modelling studies.
How to cite. Heidemann, A. C., Hayward, A., Assmy, P., Basu, A., Bracher, A., Castellani, G., Ditullio, G., Dragańska-Deja, K., Fujiwara, A., Fragoso, G. M., Høyer, J., Hwang, J., Iversen, M., von Jackowski, A., Juul-Pedersen, T., Kowalczuk, P., Lee, Y., Matsuoka, A., Merz, A., Mundy, C. J., Ostermann, E., Peeken, I., Pinkerton, M., Stoń-Egiert, J., Thielecke, A. U., Veyssiere, G., Xi, H., Yang, E. J., and Gonçalves-Araujo, R.: A Pan-Arctic Pigment Database for Phytoplankton and Sea-Ice Algae, Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-144, in review, 2026.
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Consolidated Arctic Pigments (2000-2024) Heidemann et al. https://doi.org/10.11583/DTU.29445104
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National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Aqua), Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Danish Meteorological Institute
Philip Assmy
Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway
Atreya Basu
Centre for Earth Observation Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Astrid Bracher
Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Bremerhaven, Germany
Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP), University Bremen (UB), Bremen, Germany
Giulia Castellani
Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP), University Bremen (UB), Bremen, Germany
Giacomo Ditullio
University of Charleston, Grice Marine Laboratory
Katarzyna Dragańska-Deja
Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland
Amane Fujiwara
Institute of Arctic Climate and Environment Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka, Japan
Glaucia Moreira Fragoso
SINTEF Ocean, Department of Climate and Environment, Trondheim, Norway, 7041
Jacob Høyer
Danish Meteorological Institute
Jiwoon Hwang
University of California, Berkeley, USA
Morten Iversen
Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Bremerhaven, Germany
Anabel von Jackowski
Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Thomas Juul-Pedersen
Greenland Climate Research Centre (GCRC), Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR), Nuuk, Greenland
Piotr Kowalczuk
Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland
Youngju Lee
Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon, Republic of Korea
Atsushi Matsuoka
Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, USA
Alenya Merz
Greenland Climate Research Centre (GCRC), Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR), Nuuk, Greenland
Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
C. J. Mundy
Centre for Earth Observation Science, Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Else Ostermann
Greenland Climate Research Centre (GCRC), Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR), Nuuk, Greenland
Ilka Peeken
Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Bremerhaven, Germany
Matt Pinkerton
Earth Sciences New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand
Joanna Stoń-Egiert
Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland
Antonia U. Thielecke
Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Bremerhaven, Germany
Gaëlle Veyssiere
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
Hongyan Xi
Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Bremerhaven, Germany
Eun Jin Yang
Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon, Republic of Korea
Rafael Gonçalves-Araujo
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Aqua), Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Short summary
Algal pigments are widely used to describe and quantify algal biomass and composition. These organisms represent the basis of the marine food web and are vital components for the wider ecosystem. Here, we present a pan-Arctic dataset on algal pigments that has been compiled through an international collaboration between 19 institutions.
Algal pigments are widely used to describe and quantify algal biomass and composition. These...
Altmetrics
General comments
The authors compiled phytoplankton/ice algae pigment concentration data obtained from numerous cruises in the Arctic Ocean. The dataset encompasses the concentrations of chlorophylls and accessory pigments, which are beneficial for estimating phytoplankton community structure and validating ocean color sensors.
While the dataset is highly valuable, the investigation of data quality was limited to categorization based on the availability of pigments and metadata. Methods for HPLC measurement, such as those employed by Zapata et al. (2000) and Van Heukelem and Thomas (2001), as well as the HPLC system, solvent, extraction techniques, and other relevant information are criteria to compare concentrations from different laboratories. The author wrote these variations as uncertainties. Therefore, users have to trace original dataset or articles to know them. Although round-robin experiments have been conducted to compare results from different laboratories, not all laboratories participated in the experiments. Additionally, the sampling technique and measurement methods for ice algae pigments are not explicitly mentioned. I acknowledge the data correction among laboratories is challenging and I believe that the pigment concentrations in this dataset were analyzed using reliable methodologies. However, providing information on the methods employed by the data provider is beneficial for conducting further data analyses. In summary, the dataset presented in this paper is suitable for publication in ESSD after minor revisions of the manuscript and dataset.
Specific comments
Through the manuscript, "a", "b", and "c" of chlorophylls are sometime not italicized. Pigment names were repeatedly abbreviated. Please check them.
L121-122: Absorption and scattering coefficients of phytoplankton are estimated from reflectance. They are not directly detected by radiometers.
Table 1: What are Dinoflagellates-1 and 2?
Table 1: Chl-c1+c2: MgDVP has very close retention time to chl-c1 and c2. All laboratories measured as only c1+c2?
L155: Hayward et al. (2025)? The paper in 2024 is study in the Southern Ocean.